I need to find a 160 size excavator fast...wanted to spend about 60k. Seems that anything for 60k is junk. Looked at 3 cat 315s...one was aerosol overhauled after fire damage, one would barely walk in reverse and the other was just plain junk. None of the local dealers have anything under 100k. Best deal I found so far was an 08 Volvo with 425 hrs hyd thumb(hyd thumb is a must for me) for 100k. Whats up with the 160 size market...nothing out there....
We just got a new 170 kobelco at work, and I do recall the owner complaining that he paid as much for a new 170 as he did for a 480 he bought with around 2000 hrs. He went new because basically same problem you are having, figured he might as well go new since the price wasn't much different on the used/ new 160/170 sized machines.